


The Sunset Selkie

by ThatScottishShipper



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mythology, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation, Don’t post to another site, Drowning, First Kiss, Gift Exchange, Kelpies, M/M, Mild Blood, Near Death, Painting, Scotland, Secret Santa, Selkie Keith (Voltron), Sheith Secret Santa 2019, Water, Water Spirit, minor thought of self harm to escape a life or death situation caused by kelpie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2019-12-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:22:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22036240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThatScottishShipper/pseuds/ThatScottishShipper
Summary: Sunset painter Shiro travels around the world, capturing beautiful places in his sketchbook. When he arrives on the Orkney Islands in Scotland, he finds more than a sunset.A selkie names Keith.*Written for Sheith Secret Santa 2019.*
Relationships: Keith/Shiro (Voltron)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 52





	The Sunset Selkie

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Galacteddy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Galacteddy/gifts).



Shiro loved sunsets.

So much so, in fact, that he travelled to the world’s most beautiful spots, determined to capture their breathtaking nature within his sketchbook. He started in Kyoto, at the peak of the cherry blossom season, where the delicate blooms absorbed the orange glow of the melting sun.

His latest adventure brought him to the Orkney Island in Scotland, sitting by the gently lapping waves. That decision alone had been difficult, given all the islands that made up Orkney.

Skara Brae with it’s archeological ruins by the shore had been a close contender, but thanks to a little research help from his good friend Matt Holt, he fell in love with one hidden gem.

South Ronaldsay, home to the town of St Margaret’s Hope, a few idyllic lochs, and the Orkney Vole, which Matt demanded Shiro get shots of.

When Shiro arrived, he felt transported to a magical world, especially once he set foot on the Sands of Wright beach. His heart soared at the sight of the turquoise waters, and the crystal blue skies with puffy white clouds.

He waited for the Scottish sunset to appear, then sprung into action.

As crisp and cold as the chilling onset of Winter was, Shiro was determined to capture the mesmerising sight in his sketchbook. Everything was perfect, like a moment captured perfectly in a dream.

Then, as Shiro made the last touches of his picture, he glanced upward, enjoying the last lingering warmth from the fading sun on his skin. He stood up, ready to return to the town when he saw something bobbing on the surface.

Narrowing his eyes, attempting to focus, it was then Shiro realised what he was seeing. A dark charcoal coloured creature drifting closer to the shore.

_ ‘Strange _ ,’ Shiro thought.  _ ‘I thought some animals were shy around people.’ _

Once he saw the trickle of red streaming from the mammal, the young man panicked, and he ran into the waters, giving no regard for how cold it was. His immediate instinct was a wounded animal needed his help.

Slowly, he urged what he learned to be a seal onto land, and much to his horror, the small animal had been wounded. Someone or something had injured it’s cheek, so without hesitation, Shiro searched his nearby bag.

The seal slowly cracked open a heavy eye, only to find this strange human dabbing his stinging chubby cheek with something soft and warm. After an initial sound of discomfort, the seal settled into the touch.

“There… That feel better?” Shiro wiped away the dirt and blood, carefully cleansing the wound.

Before Shiro’s very eyes, the seal… changed.

From a soft, pillowy form, with spot speckled skin, the seal seemed to shapeshift into a slender, more human figure. In the blink of an eye, a stranger with unruly black hair and stunning dark eyes sat beside him, leaving little to the imagination.

In Shiro’s arms, he held what felt like a velvet blanket, soft and warm.

Once he saw the scar on the stranger’s cheek, Shiro put two and two together, and he panicked.

So did the transformed human.

“Give that back!”

Shiro obeyed without question, flushed with embarrassment. He thrust the blanket, or whatever it was, back at the naked man, averting his gaze at anything else. “Sorry! I didn’t realise - I thought - You were a seal-”

Huffing, the stranger snatched his fabric back, trying to cover himself. “That’s ‘cause I am. Kinda.”

Shiro stopped, warily glancing at the other man. “You’re kinda…?”

“I’m a selkie.” When he was greeted with a perplexed expression, the stranger elaborated. “I’m a magical mystery seal of sorts. I can turn into a human if I ditch the… skin.”

Shiro’s eyes widened. “That’s your skin?”

  
The selkie smirked. “Yep. When I turn human, I shed my seal form, leaving… that behind. But I kinda need it to change back, so… thanks. And, you know, for my face.” The selkie pointed at his cheek, relieved that the pain had calmed.

Shiro nodded, gazing at the red mark. “Don’t mention it. I’m glad it’s healing.”

The selkie smirked. “You should see the other horse, guy, thing, you know.” Shiro didn’t know, but he nodded again. The selkie peered at the opened notepad, and art supplies. “Huh. Not bad.”

Shiro smiled. “Thanks. Um… I’m Shiro, by the way.”

The selkie stared at the human for what felt like the longest time, then he answered. “...Keith. And Shiro?”

“Yeah?”

“Stay away from the water.”

And with that, the selkie was gone.

xxx

That warning did not deter Shiro.

The very next morning, driven by inspiration, Shiro returned to the shore, sketch pad in hand.

He sat precisely where he had done the evening prior, his heart beating in anticipation. A small part of him wondered if his encounter had been fabricated by his overactive imagination, in a world of bleeding colours and softening the lines between fantasy and reality.

A paint brush stroked along a blank page, capturing the buttered sunrise growing in the distance. He much preferred sunsets, but a sunrise beheld their own bewitching spell upon him, and he had time.

Until some movement caught the corner of his eye.

He smiled.

“Good morning.”

A lazy blink greeted him from the rocks beside him, followed by squinting and huffing. It was the selkie from yesterday, in seal form, not too happy at all. With a grumpy sound, his flappers slapped against his round belly.

“Don’t know what’s so good about it,” Keith groaned, narrowing his beady eyes at the human who was too cheery in his opinion. “ _ Too bright _ . And didn’t I tell you to stay away from the water? Or are all humans stupid?”

Relieved to meet the creature once more, Shiro didn’t take offense. He simply pointed his paintbrush at the selkie, then the sparkling sapphire shores. “Oh, I  _ heard _ you. If it’s too bright, why don’t you dive on in?”

The selkie mumbled heavily. Shiro didn’t quite catch his words, thinking he heard the word “bl’egg,” so Keith repeated himself, grumping the entire time.

“ _ Too cold. _ ”

Shiro tried to hide his soft laughter behind his sketch pad to no avail. The selkie heard him clear as day, and was not pleased. He bounced over towards the human, and for a moment, Shiro feared he might have tested his luck.

But the seal settled beside Shiro, still eyeing him warily. “Sun’s better here,” Keith insisted, basking in the warmth of the sunshine. While Shiro wondered why this spot next to him would be more advantageous to the sun than the selkie’s last resting place, he kept quiet.

For a spell, Shiro returned to his painting, spreading the rippling blue and white together to recreate the beautiful ocean. And all the while, the selkie watched him, capturing the natural wonder of the shores perfectly.

By the time Shiro finished the last touches to the golden sands, Keith snorted. “You still drawing?”

“Yes.” Shiro held the landscape page out to the selkie. “I’ve always loved painting the sun in different places, and I was advised to come here by an old friend.”

_ ‘Old friend, huh?’  _ Masking his envy _ ,  _ Keith peered at the page, admitting to himself that Shiro had indeed replicated a picture perfect painting of his neck of the shore. He let out a wet snort. “It’s okay, I guess.”

“Thanks.  _ Oh.” _ Shiro reigned back the sketch pad. He quickly prodded his wet paintbrush on the page, then revealed what he had done to his guest.

“Last minute addition. What do you think?”

When the selkie peeped at the amended painting, his black eyes grew wide. In the very corner of the rocky shores was a small round blob with a tail, watching the sun rise.

Keith twitched his nose. “Not bad.”

xxx

Every day, regular as clockwork, Shiro returned to the sunset shore, and the selkie waited for him, sometimes in seal form, and other times, in human form.

Shiro shared stories about his travels across the world, and more of his drawings. Most of them were similar watercolour sunsets in various locations, always with a story attached.

On one page, the Taj Mahal silhouetted against the orange haze embracing everything. Another brought the Santa Monica Pier to life, the pastel flurry of the big wheel and the amusement park lights radiating by a purple and red sky.

The smouldering heat of Luxor melted from the golden and rusty orange sunset, into the searing hot sands and the Temple of Hatshepsut in the distance. A page dedicated to Kauna’oa Bay, Hawaii,  _ breathed _ clouds of amber honey, and an ocean made of cinnamon.

Speechless, Keith listened to every story from every place, from Norway’s midnight sun and polar nights (captured in a purple plunge against the archipelago sun,) to the appreciative applause tourists gave the Greek city of Oia and it's gorgeous sunsets (a rose-pink dusk against a white-washed city.)

Something about these stories stirred something inside the selkie. As much as he loved his home on Orkney, hearing about the beauty beyond his shores so convincingly made him feel…

Alone.

“You okay?” Suddenly, Keith felt a soft hand upon his head. “Sorry if I talked your ear off.”

Trying to shrug off the heat in his cheeks from the cold  _ because it’s Orkney and it’s always cold _ , the selkie spoke back softly.

“Tell me more.”

And Shiro obliged, basking in the company of this strange creature.

Every time Keith returned to the waters, he gave Shiro that same warning - stay away from the water - but Shiro always came back, and secretly, the selkie liked it.

He only hoped the dread inside his stomach was nothing more than fabricated fancy. Because it had been some time since he enjoyed a human’s company, and he sensed that Shiro was one of the good ones.

After all, he gave him back his pelt. Nothing terrified him more than the prospect of imprisonment, a tragic fate that befell few of his kind.

_ ‘No _ ,’ he tried to tell himself. ‘ _ Shiro’s not like that.’ _

xxx

One night, a week later, Shiro sat in bed, ruminating on his journey.

He had one day left before he had to say goodbye to Orkney, spiriting off to his next location. Leaving each place always filled him with a bittersweet feeling, but something else troubled him.

Leaving Keith, whose company he grew attached to. Especially in his human form.

Growing red, Shiro buried beneath the thick blankets of his bed, trying to turn in for the night. Thinking about it would only hurt him in the long run.

Then he heard a man’s voice from beyond the window, singing the sweetest song...

“...Keith?”

…

Shiro walked without end, in the dead of night, enchanted by that beautiful voice past woodlands of green and farmlands. Long roads came and went, but he pushed onward, determined to find the source of the singing no matter what.

Eventually, the starry night opened into an endless meadow, with a shallow loch in the heart of the stone speckled field. Not a single coot or blackbird called out, only that mesmerising song squeezing around Shiro’s heart.

By the quiet loch was a handsome man, a stranger with crystal blue eyes and soft skin. Shiro’s soft mind did not even register that it wasn’t Keith, only a man he pursued across the island to find.

And now he had.

Shiro stepped forward to meet the mysterious man, dazzled by the starlight glistening in the pools of his eyes. As the handsome man smiled, Shiro shyly let his hand touch his cheek...

In the blink of an eye, the stranger transformed before his very eyes. No longer was he human, but instead, he shapeshifted into a creature Shiro easily recognised, but with a nightmarish appearance.

A malevolent black horse, strong and powerful, with a mane of serpent like green seaweed that seemed to shift in the chilling breeze. The song of enchantment was gone, replaced by a demonic scream piercing the night, and Shiro’s dreamlike trance.

The hell horse  _ bolted _ , dragging Shiro with him.

Dizzied by the adrenaline pumping through his body, Shiro stared down at his hand, only to find it was stuck to the horse’s body, unable to break away. No amount of force freed him.

By this point, the Kelpie’s reversed hooves struck the water, which began to glow an eerie sickening green, and Shiro feared his time was limited.

He panicked, fumbling in his sack for the only thing that might free him. A sharp knife came from his leathered pouch, and his heart pounded at what he realised he had to do.

To survive, Shiro had to lose the hand.

Trembling, he attempted to positioned himself in an advantageous place, readying himself. Panic flooded his body, the knife drawing ever lower. He screwed his eyes shut, awaiting a burst of agony.

Suddenly, the Kelpie shrieked, nearly deafening Shiro, as it grinned to a halt. He opened his startled eyes, barely making out a familiar form from beneath the wet curtain of his fringe.

A round blob with a tail, and hardened onyx eyes, slamming full force into the Kelpie’s forehead. The water sprite screeched into the night, reading onto his hind hooves, lashing his wet seaweed tail viciously.

Knocking Shiro off into the bubbling green water of the loch.

“Keith!”

To the selkie’s horror, Shiro vanished as did the Kelpie.

Without hesitation, Keith dived in, swimming through the murky soup of the Kelpie’s spell on the Loch. He had to find him, he had to save Shiro no matter what it took.

His small flippers worked overtime, shooting him through the depths of darkness, and finally, he saw Shiro, unconscious and drifting helplessly among the seaweed holding him down. A faint plume of red misted into the water from the bridge of the human’s nose.

_ ‘Shiro!’ _

The selkie reached him, trying everything in his power to nudge and bunt the trapped human from the sentient underwater ensnarement. Even biting the seaweed proved fruitless. The sight of Shiro, slowly drifting closer to death,  _ terrified _ him.

_ ‘No, I won’t lose you!’ _

In a shimmering red glow, Keith shed his seal skin, swiftly tying it around his waist, then latching onto the seaweed, attempting to tear at the menacing threat upon Shiro’s life.

Once freed, Keith held onto Shiro, dashing towards the surface with the hungry Kelpie in hot pursuit. His heart pounded, the human in his arms weighing him down, but he held on tight, determined to save him.

The surface of the Loch erupted, with Keith shooting out towards the nearby grass, Shiro still in his arms. Freedom was short lived, however, as he felt a painful tug at his back.

Then release.

The two collapsed on the ground, rolling upon impact, until eventually, they came to a halt. The first thing Keith did was crawl to Shiro’s side, moving him onto his back, only to panic.

He wasn’t breathing.

“Shiro, come on! Breathe!”

To Keith’s horror, out the corner of his eye, the last thing he saw of the Kelpie was the creature dragging his seal pelt into the Loch, into the bottomless waters.

_ ‘My skin!’ _

He wanted to retrieve it, yearning for his precious skin, the source of his transformation, but his frightened eyes naturally drifted back to Shiro, and a terrible truth came crashing down on him.

Chasing after two rabbits often meant losing them both.

Keith gritted his teeth, then turned his attention back to Shiro, thumping his fists against his chest.

“Come on, Shiro, please!” he cried out, desperate to bring life back to this stupid human who meant too much to him. “You can’t do this to me! Wake up!”

Realising that he was losing him with every fleeting second, Keith did the only thing he could, something he saw humans do on the shores when one drank too much water.

With a deep breath, Keith places his lips onto Shiro’s soft ones, and breathed his life into his. He never gave up, shifting between pushing his hands onto Shiro’s still body, and kissing life into him.

_ ‘Shiro, please… _

_ Wake up… I can’t lose you…’ _

One last breath of life, and suddenly, Shiro’s chest spasmed, a cough exploding out his mouth, along with the water inside him. Relief soared inside Keith’s heart, and he held Shiro to the side, helping him to clear his lungs.

“That’s it, Shiro,” Keith encouraged him, patting his back. “Come back to me.”

Eventually, the coughing subsided, and Shiro regained regular breathing, his dazed gaze upon Keith, his saviour. He wiped away the blood from the wound on Shiro’s nose, knowing it would leave a scar.

“Keith… You saved me…”

“We saved each other,” Keith shot back, smiling adoringly at the idiot beneath him. “What were you thinking? Didn’t I tell you? To stay away from the water?”

Shiro frowned. “In my defense, I didn’t think a blood thirsty hell horse was lurking around.”

“No, just a hot guy, right?” Shiro’s flustered silence said it all. “Yeah. They’re smart like that. Kids get drawn to a cool horse, and grownups? Can’t resist a pretty face.” Keith chuckled. “Look on the bright side. You’ve still got your hand. Very few Kelpie survivors can’t say that.”

Carefully, Shiro sat up, resting his dizzy head on Keith’s bare shoulder. “A… Kelpie? What…?”

“A water spirit,” Keith explained, unable to tear his eyes away Shiro, or the lips he just touched with his a short time ago. “They turn into horses and draw humans beneath the waves to eat them.”

Shiro gulped. “Not exactly a pleasant way to go.”

Keith smirked, amused by Shiro’s gallows humour. “Nope. They were thought to be an old wife’s tale to scare kids out of bad behaviour, and keep them away from dangerous waters, but… guess the myth became the truth.”

Shiro sighed, tired from his ordeal, and flexing his stiff feet. “My feet hurt.”

Scoffing, Keith carefully helped Shiro onto his feet. “Yeah, well, walking for two hours will do that.”

Shiro flinched.  _ “What?” _

The selkie rolled his eyes, as they began to walk away from the Loch. “We’re at Loch Lythe. That town you were staying at? Two hours away on foot.” Keith began to stretch his own legs. “I know because I had to leg it across the island to find you.”

Guilt gnawed at Shiro’s stomach, at the thought of Keith in his human form, sprinting for miles on legs he was unaccustomed to all to save him. He paused, looking back at the still Loch, no longer glowing malevolently.

“Sorry about your… coat,” Shiro apologised. If he had just heeded Keith’s call, and just listened, the selkie would not have lost his skin.

A selkie without a skin was… trapped, something Keith clearly hated.

But much to Shiro’s surprise, the selkie in human form simply stared at him. He sighed, shaking his head. “Yeah, sucks, but… it’s not the end of the world.”

Shiro blinked.  _ ‘Huh?’ _

“Means you’ll have to take responsibility now. After all, I can’t return to the ocean like this.” Keith’s face softened sadly. “Though I will miss my pelt. It’s a part of me.”

Betraying Keith’s earlier words, pearls of tears began to fall, and Shiro’s heart wrenched. He placed a kindly hand on the young man’s shoulder, smiling empathetically.

“Come stay with me tonight,” Shiro said, holding the selkie’s webbed hand. “And I’ll make it up to you tomorrow. Okay?”

Keith nodded, and they began the long trek back to town.

xxx

The next morning, Keith awakened in bed, deciding that maybe warm human beds weren’t so bad.

Sitting up with a lazy stretch, he stared around the room only to find that Shiro was missing. Slowly, he got out of bed, wiggling his webbed toes and tugging at the long white shirt the human had gifted him with.

All with a red face.

Keith smiled fondly, his mind thinking back to their lips touching, only for the wooden door of the cottage to crack open. There stood Shiro, carrying a rucksack full of what Keith guesses were supplies from town. A steady red scar rested on Shiro’s face.

‘ _Guess we match,_ ’ the selkie thought, touching his own absent mindedly.

“Hey,” Shiro said softly, shrugging off the big bag from his back, and the gloves he wore. “Sleep well?”

Shifting from foot to foot awkwardly, Keith cleared his throat. “Y-Yeah. As far as… not wet sleeps go. Were you shopping?”

Kneeling down to pop open the rucksack, Shiro smiled briefly before it faded. “Something like that. Listen, today is my last day on Orkney.”

Keith’s heart dropped, tightening into a steel ball inside his chest. “ _ Oh _ . Of course.”

Of course humans always left, and moved on. That’s why Keith tried to stop caring about them, after the last one. Against his want, his lower lip trembled, and he hated himself for it.

_ ‘Stupid humans. They always do this. _

_ Come into my life, and then…’ _

Shiro’s arms suddenly wrapped around him, bringing him into a warm hug. Keith’s heartache released, his chest heaving, and the tears trickling down his cheeks.

“Keith, what’s wrong?”

“You’re leaving,” Keith sobbed stubbornly, clinging to the back of Shiro’s jacket nevertheless. “Should’ve figured you-”

The selkie trailed off, those big wet eyes drifting towards the floor, away from Shiro’s gentle eyes that were too cruel to behold. After a faint moment, Keith crumbled to the floor, and Shiro fell with him, holding him tenderly.

“Shiro, you…”

The taller man reached out to his bag, unveiling a spot speckled, slightly tattered pelt, and bestowing it unto Keith.

“It wasn’t easy,” Shiro admitted, his heart swelling at the sight of the selkie cuddling into his soft pelt, but staying in his arms. “And it was risky, but you sacrificed a lot to save me. It’s only fair you got your seal skin back, Keith. It’s a part of you. It’s who you are.”

Suddenly, Keith threw his arms around Shiro, nuzzling his face against his neck, showering him with words of gratitude. Before Shiro returned words of his own, he once more felt those soft lips upon his, silencing anything he wanted to say.

Arms around each other, the human and the selkie treasures the feeling of the kiss, of this whirlwind connection bringing them together, and when they reluctantly broke away, Shiro and Keith laughed together, foreheads touching.

“So…” Shiro began, licking his dry lips. “Call me crazy, but if I were to ask you to come with me, with your skin of course-”

“ _ Yes _ .” Keith peppered Shiro with needy little kisses between words. “Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. Did you not see my sad seal tears earlier?  _ Yes _ .”

Chuckling at the softness of the selkie’s lips upon his eyelids, nose, cheeks,  _ everywhere _ , Shiro cupped Keith’s cheek. “Better pack your pelt because there’s a whole new world out there.”

And journey the world they did, Shiro the Human and Keith the Selkie, travelling from one country to the next, painting sunsets with a personal touch in each new picture.

A seal, staring at the sunset beside the silhouette of a man.

**Author's Note:**

> My pinch hitter Sheith Secret Santa 2019 fill for Akemichan, who asked for any AU, but in the list, fairytale fantasy really stood out, and since I’m Scottish, I thought what better folklore than that of the selkie and the Kelpie?
> 
> Naturally, Keith falling into the role of the selkie made sense as someone who wants to trust in a human, but is suspicious of them given how they were help captive in the stories by having their pelt stolen.
> 
> The seal pelt is the source of their transformation powers, so it’s a low blow, humanity, low blow.
> 
> Luckily, Shiro’s a good egg. The idea to have him as a painter made sense since Sheith has strong sunset connotations, so it was a nice, symbolic touch.
> 
> The locations in the fic are real, and I ultimately went with Orkney for its beautiful scenery, and Loch Lythe. Not only is it in a place that fit well for my creative vision, Loch Lythe is described as being quite shallow with plenty of bird life, so the stark contrast of a silent loch at night with a creature that can drag victims into the water, never to be seen again gives it a creepy edge.
> 
> Selkie!Keith giving a Kelpie a Glasgow kiss to save Shiro? Priceless.
> 
> Thank you very much for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. 🖤❤️


End file.
